Driving by Doug's this a.m., I was surprised to see construction is underway to install a guardrail along the south side of hwy 14 for the entire parking area west of the railroad crossing. Again, this is along the road.

Stopped by and asked a construction worker what this meant for parking. Her understanding was for that parking section, folks will enter via a one-way opening at the far western edge of the lot - then you will drive east along the fence line to ONLY parallel park. To leave ,you will go to a designated exit near the railroad crossing. She thought they might only allow right hand turns on to 14 from there. In other words, folks will park between the fence and the guardrail and it will be (in essence) a one-way road to exit. She said the rational behind this was "safety."

She also mentioned they were pondering doing the same for the entire lot at Dougs (down the road --- not currently). Of course, all this info is UNOFFICIAL. Just one construction worker's read on the project.

It will be a crowded parking scenerio on windy summer afternoons at Dougs.

Who's taking over the reigns now at the CGWA? Now that Diane is retiring, we're facing some serious access issues. Here's hoping we can increase our clout and protect our spots now more than ever. Heaven knows there are only a few that are ideal

the new executive directior is katie crafts. She seems to be a great new leader, bringing many fresh ideas to the organization. I would highly suggest you go in and talk to her about any ideas you have, and how CGWA could help. I know she is busy, and has her work cut out for her this summer(catching up with the group as it was left, and getting some great events going this summer), but in the fall she will need some new projects to work on (increased access, current access problems[Event site!!])

I may be wrong but from what I can tell CGWA did little when it came to the changes at Doug's. Yes the railroad is going to do anything they want to but I do feel that the CGWA (under Diane) did not speak out enough on our behalf about the changes. Let's hope they'll take the lead in oppostion to the Broughton Beach resort.

What makes you think they will be opposed to the Broughton Landing project? IMO, it's a good thing: Increases the proportion of windsports in our local economy, which leads to better representation in local politics. Better representation means more power to stop things like the Dougs closure, improve existing launches, and maybe even get acess to new ones.
It's not like a new windsurfing resort is going to make a bunch of new sailors overnight to jam up the Hatchery, everybody that wants to sail the Gorge in the summer is already doing so. If they improve the traffic access, upgrade the launch areas, and offer some services, how is that possibly hurting anyone? I'd much rather have that than the crumbling brownfield mill whos only current purpose is as a billboard for republican politicians.

Agreed. I sail at the Hatch/Swell and live nearby and think that the Broughton proposal is a good thing. I see no real downside. Fact is that there are fewer people sailing each year and the plan is unlikely to do anything to make the area more crowded. I suspect that if it happens, the situation will only get better. The only people that are going to want to stay at a resort away from town, next to traintracks, next to busy a highway, and next to a noisy windy river with noisy barges are the people that already use the place. Development of the resort will require that the lodgers have parking, so that will take their cars away from the day parking spaces. Plus, I suspect that the resort will need to develop a beach. They will not be able to keep day users off of that beach.

these access issues are a problem we have faced for years but will become even more difficult to overcome in the future unless we work together with all wind users for a common purpose. the kite community shares your concerns and the cgka should be updated so that jointly all access issues can be lobbied for with a greater focus.

I agree about broughtons, think it will be a good thing they have even talked of opening up more beach access and a resort beats a mill anytime IMO. but back to the original thread...I'm wondering if this is the railroad or WDOT? If it's WDOT they will probably do the same to the east side parking and suddenly you will have room for about 1/4 the vehciles...hey maybe that's not such a bad thing either...always a silver lining heh, just get there early

Broughton is currently approved for 100 campsites, 35 condos and a restaurant. They want to change the rules the Gorge act that allow development in existing urban area, to make another urban area so they can put in a MINIMUM 250 unit destination resort with shops and restaurants. This means a thousand people flushing their toilets into the lagoon upstream of the launches. The idea that the 'ugly' mill site will be improved by this is a stretch. Traffic and access will be a nightmare. A destination resort will compete with, and bypass, the local economies of exisiting towns. The Scenic Area is a not that large. It is a narrow strip of land on either side of the Columbia created to preserve scenic and recreational opportunities for the thousands of visitors that come here every year. Windsurfing kiteboarding and other non motorized water sports are clean sports that depend on maintaining and improving the water quality of the Columbia. Windsurfers who travel have seen what overdevelopment has done in other places. The Scenic Area is not 'just like' Miami beach the DR or Aruba. (thank God)

I hope the CGWA doesn't get bought off by the non-promise of off site mitigation like it did with Doug's. What a shame. the RR paid the CGWA 200K and dangled an idea of opening the narrows. Just putting in a track crossing costs 1 million ! And there IS no place like Dougs or the Hatch. We snooze we lose.

Broughton is currently approved for 100 campsites, 35 condos and a restaurant. They want to change the rules the Gorge act that allow development in existing urban area, to make another urban area so they can put in a MINIMUM 250 unit destination resort with shops and restaurants. This means a thousand people flushing their toilets into the lagoon upstream of the launches. The idea that the 'ugly' mill site will be improved by this is a stretch. Traffic and access will be a nightmare. A destination resort will compete with, and bypass, the local economies of exisiting towns. The Scenic Area is a not that large. It is a narrow strip of land on either side of the Columbia created to preserve scenic and recreational opportunities for the thousands of visitors that come here every year. Windsurfing kiteboarding and other non motorized water sports are clean sports that depend on maintaining and improving the water quality of the Columbia. Windsurfers who travel have seen what overdevelopment has done in other places. The Scenic Area is not 'just like' Miami beach the DR or Aruba. (thank God)

I hope the CGWA doesn't get bought off by the non-promise of off site mitigation like it did with Doug's. What a shame. the RR paid the CGWA 200K and dangled an idea of opening the narrows. Just putting in a track crossing costs 1 million ! And there IS no place like Dougs or the Hatch. We snooze we lose.

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